Aeroplane.



W. E, ADAMS.

AEEOPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. 1910.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

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WILLIAM EDWARD ADAMS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Application filed June 25, 1910. Serial No. 568,908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM EDWARD ADAMs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAeroplanes, of whichthe following is a Specification.

This invention relates to aeroplanes and has for its object to provide amachine which may be readily and easily controlled, which shall be ofsimple construction, and which shall be stable in flight. Generallystated, the invention includes front and rear supporting surfaces orplanes mounted on a suitable frame-work or chassis, the front planebeing formed in two independently movable parts or sections, andpreferably suitable propelling means and means for controllingthe'movements of the sections of the front supporting surface. Thesections of the front supporting surface are movable eitherindependently or together, and by appropriate movements thereof, themachine may be made to rise or descend, to turn to one side or theother, or to vary its speed. The rear supporting surface or plane has aparticular contour. It is not essential, however, but when present actsin connection with the first-mentioned supporting surface to .counteractgusts of air tending to tip the machine, thereby tending to maintain thestability of the machine.

The invention further includes a suitable plate or surface mounted uponthe lower part of the frame of the machine,adapted to act as adeflector, should the machine come in contact with the surface of thewater. 'It also acts as an additional supporting surface while in theair.

For a more complete understanding of the invention it will now bedescribed in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a frontelevation thereof, and Fig. 3 a' top view of the machine.

In said drawings, A indicates the frame or chassis of the machine; B thefront su-pporting-plane and C the rear supporting plane.

The frame A of the machineis preferably of rectangular shape beingcomposed of the longitudinal strips a, vertical rods a? and horizontalstrips a, and the whole their extremities.

may be braced by cross-rods or wires a,

as desired.

Supporting-plane B is composed. of the two sections 6 and bfleach ofwhich'is pivotally mounted on the front end ofthe frame A of themachine. These sections 6 and b"' may be pivoted on the frame in anysultable manner, but they are preferably hingedJas by the straps b to acrossbar a extending horizontally across the front part of the frame.This cross-bar a may be braced by the bars a. andv a.

. I The sections b and b may be of any suitable contour, but as shownpreferably have a slight convex curvature on their lower faces fromfront to rear, and curve -upwardly toward their tips o the. curve beingquite pronounced at the extremities so as to constitute in effect vanesor fins. They are also preferably tapered toward The object is to havethese sections of the plane generally correspond to the contour of thewing of a bird. The sections'are also preferably hinged. to the bar aalong their medial line, as the resistance of the air will be therebydistributed equally on both sides, and the sections will be more readilymoved on their pivots or hinges. Y

The plane C is attached to the frame A in rear of the plane B, and ispreferably in a plane slightly higher than the plane B so as to catchthe current of air thrown off from the front plane and also to be in astratum of air above that of the front plane. This plane is of oppositecurvature to plane B, curving downwardly toward its extremities and ispreferably concave on its under side and is of somewhat greatercurvature at its rear than at its front. -The effect of this is to drivethe impingingair toward the center of the plane and thereby obtain. asteadying action of the air upon the machine. The ends of the plane maybe braced by the guy-wires or ropes 0. A convenient way of mounting thisplane on the frame is to secure itfixedly upon upright bars a a", whichlatter may be prolongations of the vertical bars a Any suitable meansmay be employed for moving the sections 5' and b of the plane B. Thoseillustrated, comprise the rods (1! 0'! connected at one end to the edgeportion d 03 20th in the direction.

ends of shafts (Z (Z Handwhecls (Z cl" are provided on the ends ofshafts d (Z for operating the same. ()ne of these shafts may be tubular,as shown, the other projecting through it, or they may be separate.Additional rods (Z d may be provided between the planes and the racks soas to distribute the force applied in operating the planes. The machineis also preferably provided with a rudder E, though this is notindispensable. This rudder is mounted vertically in the rear frame-workof the machine, and is preferably operated by the foot-lever 0 connectedto the same by ropes c running over the pulleys e attached to the upperand lower parts of the frame.

The machine is driven by a propeller F operated by any suitable motor G.This motor and the operators seat are prefer ably mounted on the lowerpart of the frame-work, in order to lower the center of gravity, andalso so positioned in respect to the front and rear planes as to bringthe center of gravity about midway thereof. This makes the machineexceedingly stable in flight.

Wheels H, on which the machine can travel while on the ground, arepreferably attached to the lower parts of the framework, and there isalso preferably attached to the front end of the frame preferablybeneath it, a dished plate I. The purpose of this plate is to cause themachine to rebound, should it strike the surface of the water while inflight. It also acts as an additional supporting surface while themachine is in the air.

Operation: The motor being set in motion, the machine may be made torise by moving the two sections of the front plane so as to slantupwardly, thereby presenting a greater angle of incidence to the air,and conse uently causing the machine to rise. This is done by turningthe hand-wheels d d", in opposite directions. When the desired elevationis obtained, or when it is desired to descend, the sections of the frontlane are both moved so as to present a esser angle of incidence to theair, this also being done by moving the hand-wheels d d", in o positedirections. When, however, it is desired to turn to one side or theother, it is simply necessary to move one of the sections of the frontplane so as to present a greater angle of incidence to the air, causingthe machine to turn in that direction in a manner well understood. Theother section of the front plane may remain stationary, or it may bemade to assist in the turning movement by moving it to present a lessangle of incidence to the air. These movements of the sections of theplane are accom lished by turning the l1andwhcels Turning may alsobeaccomplished by the rudder when such is used, either independently or inconjunction with the sections of the front plane. The speed of themachine may be slackened by turning both sections of the plane B sharplyupward. This will cause the air to offer a great resistance to theadvance of the machine and but slight lifting force, and will result inrapidly slackening the speed of the machine. If the lifting force shouldprove too great in this movement, the force of the engine may besimultaneously decreased, as by retarding the spark when a gasolenemotor is employed, or in any other well-known way.

Normally, the machine will be sustained in stable equilibrium in theair, as the center of gravlty is low, and located about mid way betweenthe front and rear plane, the weights of the motor, operator, etc.,being concentrated on the lower parts of the frame and appropriatelydistributed to this end. The upward curve of the front supporting planetoward its extremities also contributes to maintain the stability.

Tipping of the machine to one side is counteracted by the plane C, asany force acting on the under side of plane B should act on the upperside of plane C, or would cause the upper side of plane C to reactagainst the air, and thereby neutralize the same. Consequently anycurrent striking the machine from one side would act equally on theunder surface of the front plane and on the upper surface of the rearplane, and thereby have no effect on tilting or tipping the machine.This plane also, by its action on the current of air passing under it,further acts to maintain the stability of the machine.

In turning and in other movements, slipping of the machine sidewise ordrifting is counteracted by the upturned extremities of the plane B,these extremities presenting surfaces which react laterally on the air.

While I have illustrated and described one form of the invention, it isnot to be understood that I limit myself thereto, as many changes andmodifications may be made therein within the spirit of the invention.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In an aeroplane, the combination with the frame thereof, of asupporting plane in two sections, one on either side of the machine,each movably mounted on the frame, whereby they may be turned to presentdifferent angles of incidence to the air, and a second plane concavefrom tip to tip and of greater concavity at its rear than at its front,whereby greater angles of incidence are presented progressively towardthe tips thereof and the air deflected in a stream toward the medialline of the surface.

2. In an aeroplane, the combination with the frame thereof, of asupporting plane 'in two sections, one on either side of the machine,each movably mounted on the frame, whereby they may be turned to presentdifferent angles of incidence to the air, and a second plane concavefrom tip to tip and of greater concavity front, whereby greater anglesof incidence are presented progressively toward the tips thereof and theair deflected in a stream toward the medial line of'the surface, and

at its rear than at its In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed 15 myname in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWARD ADAMS.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. HATCH, CHAS. B. DINGLEY.

